Garr, star of movies including "Young Frankenstein" and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," received the society's Shining Star Award Thursday from David L. Lander, the actor best known for playing Squiggy on the sitcom "Laverne & Shirley."

Lander revealed that he had MS in 1999, after hiding it for 15 years for fear of being unemployable in Hollywood. Garr went public with her MS this year in a media blitz that began on the "Larry King Live" show on CNN.

MS is an unpredictable neurological condition that can cause blurred vision, loss of balance, poor coordination, slurred speech, tremors, numbness, fatigue and in extreme cases blindness and paralysis. There is no cure, but drugs developed in the early 1990s have made it possible to slow its progress.

"It (the diagnosis) really freaked me out," Garr told a ballroom full of MS activists. "Actually, I thought, 'What's the difference, being handicapped in Hollywood, or being a woman over 50."'

Garr, who turns 54 next month, vowed to make up for lost time in her role as an MS spokeswoman.

"I'm new here, and I'm hoping that I can raise some awareness too, with my so-called celebrity status," she said. "I am here to help you fight the fight, and we're all in this together."

MUNCIE, Ind. (AP) - David Letterman, who suggested his Indianapolis hometown name an interstate after him, finally has something that bears his name: an alley.

David Letterman: The host of CBS' "Late Show" has an alley named after him in downtown Muncie, Ind., his hometown.

AP Photo

City officials in Muncie decided Wednesday to name a downtown alley after the CBS "Late Show" host, who is a Ball State University graduate.

"It will take some time to develop," said Brian Lough, Muncie's downtown development director. But the alley is "the busiest and the best" in the city about 40 miles northeast of Indianapolis.

Lough came up with the idea after Letterman asked Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson in October to rename Interstate 465, the highway that encircles the city, the David Letterman Expressway.

What the alley will be called hasn't been decided.

The South Walnut Street alley is near a bar and a parking lot and between a comedy club and United American Appraisal. It will be dedicated Dec. 5. Officials plan to install signs and a camera to broadcast images over the Internet.

Tom Keaney, a representative of Letterman's production company, World Wide Pants, didn't offer an immediate reaction from Letterman.

DETROIT (AP) - Rapper Jay-Z, with a bottle of water in one hand and a microphone in the other, told an audience at the city's Cass Technical High School about the importance of staying in school.